


YOUNG

by bellarchives



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-17
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-08-15 16:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8063401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellarchives/pseuds/bellarchives
Summary: "The reason I’m here is to recruit you, Riley Matthews, to become apart of the greatest youth spy agency in the world. Now my question for you is, are you in?"





	1. Riley

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of these characters, they belong to gmw. I hope you like this and I'm excited to keep going with this story. This chapter is dedicated to Mira (probably all of them will be), thank you for putting up with me. I love you.

It was a typical Thursday afternoon in New York City, and Riley Matthews was making her way home alone from the first week of her junior year of high school. Maya had stayed after school to work on her first assignment for AP Art, Lucas and Zay were at football tryouts, Isadora was leading the introductory meeting for the Abigail Adams High Debate Team (since she had won the title of captain and the respect of her peers very quickly), and Farkle was at home sick for the first time in his life. Cheer tryouts had already passed and Riley had made the team, but their Thursday practice was cancelled last minute. She had no choice but to leave school on her own at the end of the day. She figured she could just start her homework early and rendezvous with her friends at Topanga’s, their hangout spot, later that night.

As she left the campus, she reflected on her day. It had been nothing out of the ordinary: she had a pop quiz in Algebra 2, a project due for English, and busy work due to the rest of her classes. But being in her Honors Chemistry class felt odd with Farkle out sick. Dissolving magnesium ribbon in hydrochloric acid just wasn’t the same with Darby. At least her art class was with Zay and Maya. While Maya’s artistic skills were so magnificent that they set her apart from the rest of the class, Riley’s were so awful that they had the same effect. Zay fell in between the two with regards to his skill level, but the three friends enjoyed the fact that they shared their last class of the day together. She smiled as she recalled the events that took place during the day because, all in all, it was a good day.

Although, as she continued looking back on the events that occurred, Riley remembered something. Throughout the day, she felt as though she was being watched but could never figure out who was watching her. She told herself that it must have just been the unusual absence of Farkle that made her feel off, so she pushed the thought out of her mind for the time being.

She was actually pretty disappointed that her cheer practice was cancelled. Growing up, Riley had gained a reputation of being extremely clumsy. Her lanky physique did not exactly make her the most coordinated girl in her class, but instead made her accident-prone. But ever since she started taking gymnastics during her freshman year, her coordination greatly improved and she was slowly becoming one of the better cheerleaders on the team. She worked on her flips and cartwheels daily, and she continued to push herself to be the best she could possibly be. Cheerleading was strenuous and exhausting, but she was passionate about it and really enjoyed learning the routines and performing them at sporting events.

She decided to go to Topanga’s on her way home to get an iced coffee because she felt like she needed a break before she started her homework. She also decided to make a playlist to send to Farkle in hopes that it would lift his spirits so he didn’t feel so alone while he was sick. They shared the same taste in music and often made playlists for each other, so she hoped he would like the new one she was making him.

She walked into the small bakery and took a seat in one of the booths. It was a quiet day and the only customers were a couple on a date and a young woman who was reading. Riley left her backpack on the table and went to order her drink. When she returned she noticed that the young woman was now sitting in the adjacent booth, facing Riley. Riley tried ignoring this and sat down to enjoy her drink. She got out her phone and opened her Spotify app. She named the playlist “songs to help u feel better” and began adding some of her favorite songs (one of which being “Ghost” by Banners) and some songs she knew he loved (especially “Lethargy” by Bastille). She also added a few that he hadn’t heard before (including “The Greatest” by Sia featuring Kendrick Lamar), but she hoped he would like and a few that she knew would make him laugh (for example: “Everything Is Awesome!!!” by Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island). She smiled as she completed the playlist and was about to text it to him when she felt someone staring at her. She glanced up in time to see the young woman quickly look away from her.

Riley felt uncomfortable; why did this woman seem so familiar? She was pretty sure she had seen her before. This woman was making her feel extremely uneasy, so she made sure the woman was looking away when she quickly made her way through the door, sending the link to the playlist to Farkle as she left. She hadn’t realized how long she had been at Topanga’s, but she saw that it had been an hour since school got out. She should have been heading home anyways, so she made her way home walking at a faster pace than she was typically used to, ensuring that there was as much distance between her and that woman as possible. She was constantly looking behind her to check that she wasn’t being followed, however she couldn’t escape the image of the unknown woman.

The more she thought about it, the more she remembered seeing the woman. On the subway, at Topanga’s, at the movies; she was everywhere. Was Riley just paranoid? It felt like this mystery woman was everywhere in Riley’s life for the past year. Riley was extremely worried and tried to listen to the playlist she had just sent Farkle because at this point, she needed something to help her feel better too.

When she finally reached her apartment building, she felt a cold chill running down her spine and she shivered; she felt like she was being watched again. Riley quickly whipped her head around, but no one was there. She looked above her at the building windows and down the street, failing to find the face of anyone who could be observing her. Panicking, she ran through the door and pushed past a stranger and accidentally spilled the remains of her coffee on herself. She was so spooked at this point that she only yelled a quick “sorry!” at the stunned man who just stared blankly at the giant coffee stain on his dress shirt and made her way up to her apartment, looking forward to returning to the safety and comfort of her home.

Riley checked her phone as she made her way up the stairs. Farkle had sent her a thank you for the playlist and told her that he already felt better because of it. Riley smiled and momentarily forgot about the scary situation she was currently running from. She checked her messages again but had nothing new to read or reply to. She had texted her parents during her third period asking if Maya could sleep over that night, but they were yet to respond. She frowned since it never took them more than five minutes to reply to her texts. However, she decided she would just ask again when she saw them at home. They couldn’t say no; even if they did, Maya would just sneak in through Riley’s window after they had fallen asleep. Riley would have to remember to tell her what happened to her when she came over. By that time, it would be something she could laugh at.

Riley gets her keys out of her bag and attempts to unlock the front door, but she finds that it is already open. As she looks inside her apartment, she is not expecting the scene she is greeted with. Sitting on her couch was the young woman from Topanga’s. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, adorned in a black jumpsuit and matching pumps. Her dark brown hair was straight and fell just above her shoulders, her face and makeup so beautiful that it gave the impression that she was glowing. She stares at Riley as soon as the door swings open and has an unreadable expression on her face.

As their eyes meet, Riley freezes in place. _How did she get here before I did? How the_ hell _does she know where I live?_ She slyly tries to reach for the front zipper of her backpack so that she can pull out a whistle from it, enabling her to alert a neighbor or passerby of the stranger in her apartment.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Riley,” warned the woman, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she surveys the terrified teenage girl standing in front of her.

“Why not?” Riley countered, trying to sound a lot braver than she felt. “And how do you know my name?” She felt like her heart was beating so fast it could explode at any second, yet she did her best to not crumple in fear.

“I’m here to recruit you,” the woman said shortly. She sat back on the couch and took off her pumps, making herself comfortable as Riley continued standing by the door, eyes still wide with shock.

Her confusion was clear from the expression on her face. “Like… for college?” The woman laughed and it was the prettiest sound Riley had ever heard. Riley began to edge closer and closer back to the door so that she could get as far away from the mysterious woman as possible.

“My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Mariam. And no, I’m not here to recruit you for college, although your education is very important. The reason I’m here is to recruit you, Riley Matthews, to become apart of the greatest youth spy agency in the world. Now my question for you is, are you in?”


	2. Farkle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is being updated really soon, but I was able to write this chapter faster than I thought so I figured it wouldn't hurt to post it today! But just know that I won't always be posting this often, I will usually post every 3-4 days, a week at most. I will do my best to post as consistently as I can, but I can't make any promises. I hope you're enjoying YOUNG so far; it's been so fun to write! This chapter (as usual) is dedicated to Mira, who I love more than I will ever be able to truly express, and m & a (you know who you are, I hope you enjoy meeting the new character).

Of _course_ Farkle would get sick on the first week of the most important year of high school; just his luck. His teachers barely knew him, what kind of impression would they have of him now that he was already missing on week one? When he told Isadora that he wouldn’t be at school, she told him not to worry because she would send him all of his homework since they were practically in all of the same classes. Being in the same classes as Isadora Smackle meant he would most likely rank second in every subject, but he tried to forget about that and instead tried to focus on feeling better.

 

He rolled over in bed and looked at his clock. How was it already 2:30 in the afternoon? He had barely slept all night and had already gotten up to throw up at least four times since he saw the sun rise. He glanced down at the floor and found a tray of uneaten food placed next to his bed. He didn’t remember anyone coming into his room to put it there but he didn’t think he would be able to get it down his throat without it coming back up. He picked up the glass of water from the tray and had a sip of it before he felt a wave of nausea hit him. How could he have gotten this sick so fast?

 

Farkle stood up slowly and made his way over to the bathroom. He figured that he should shower now because not only did he smell of vomit, but the steam from the hot water could help open up his nose and help him feel better. He decided he should listen to music while he showered so he could stay awake and avoid falling asleep standing up and slipping in the tub. He turned on his phone to open Spotify when he saw his notifications. He had gotten a text from each of his friends in their group chat telling him they either missed him at school or that they hoped he felt better soon. He also saw one from Riley outside of the group chat. He opened it with a smile on his face.

 

She had made him a playlist. He quickly replied, thanking her for it. He decided to play it on shuffle while he showered. He connected it to his bluetooth speaker and pressed play once he’d gotten into the shower. What he didn’t expect was for the volume to be on the highest setting and for the song from _The LEGO Movie_ to blare through his room.

 

He covered his ears immediately but he couldn’t stop laughing. The six friends had hung out one night at Riley’s house with Auggie, Riley’s younger brother. He had _insisted_ upon _The LEGO Movie_ for their movie night, and the only people who got into it were Farkle and Riley. Farkle loved the graphics and the fact that every LEGO piece shown was an actual manufactured LEGO that you could buy. Riley loved the storyline and the characters. The pair proceeded to find out more about the movie, and they lost it when they found the soundtrack online. The song and the five different versions on it became an inside joke between Riley and Farkle because by the time they had discovered the songs, it was 4am and everyone else had fallen asleep hours before.

 

Farkle quickly found the pause button on the speaker and pressed it as fast as possible. The song came to an abrupt halt, and he took the time to put the volume at a reasonable level before playing it and re-entering the shower. Now he would be thinking about LEGOS for the rest of the day thanks to Riley. At least she put a smile on his face for the time being.

 

Once Farkle got out of the shower, he brushed his teeth and picked out clean pajamas. The one he was wearing before he showered was drenched in sweat and stained with puke. He grimaced at the sight of vomit on his favorite pajamas but decided he would fret about it when he didn’t feel like he was about to die.

 

He brought the speaker into his room and left it on his nightstand as he got back into his bed. “Half Light” by Banners started playing next and he closed his eyes. He hoped the soothing song would serve as a lullaby and _finally_ let him get some rest. Of course, life doesn’t work that way and Farkle would not get rest any time soon.

 

“Hey can you turn it up? I _love_ this song!” Farkle sat up faster than he should have and felt extremely nauseous again. He had no idea who had just spoken and he couldn’t open his eyes because the room was spinning. All he knew is that no one in his life had a British accent, so whoever just spoke was not someone Farkle knew.

 

“Who the hell are you? Why are you in my room?” Farkle yelled, wincing as he realized yelling only made his vision swim and head pound even more. He finally opened his eyes and looked up to see a young man standing by his window. His open window. Farkle must’ve forgotten to close it last night when he collapsed onto his bed. He mentally cursed himself for being such an idiot. Was this guy about to rob him? The man didn’t say anything but continued to stare at Farkle with a bemused expression. Farkle took this as a sign to keep talking, so he started rambling, “look, if you want to rob me, go ahead but please just don’t hurt me because I’m feeling really sick and if you come near me I might throw up on you so-”

 

“ _Woah_ , calm down,” the young man said, clearly seeing that Farkle viewed him as a threat. “I’m not gonna rob you, I’m just here to talk. Sorry about the flu by the way, I wanted to get you sick enough to stay home today but I didn’t realize how sick _you_ had to be to admit defeat and not go to school.”

 

Farkle blinked stupidly and just stared at him. “Y- _you did this to me?_ What the _hell_ would you do that for? Who even _are_ you?” The man was so casual about making Farkle so deathly ill just so he could talk to him, which was a very disturbing thought.

 

“Sorry man but this is important. Oh and I’m Nate by the way. Here, I have the remedy for your flu. Take this so we can chat,” he said as he handed Farkle a small vial of bright pink liquid. He continued, “also, I left some food for you this morning but I think you were too sick to eat. It’s a pity, I make a mean scrambled egg,” he said with a wink.

 

Farkle stared at the bottle. “What’s in this? And why should I trust you?”

 

“So many questions today Farkle, good lord. You should trust me because if I wanted to poison you, you would’ve died when I gave you the virus. I don’t want to kill you and I want you to feel normal again so just take it. We don’t have time to waste.” Farkle thought Nate was a relatively jovial guy who didn’t seem to be a devious man, but Farkle saw a look in his eyes that told him that Nate was a more complex and serious person than he appeared to be. He decided he didn’t have much to lose, so he drank the vial like a shot.

 

He was disgusted. The shot tasted like a combination of beetroot juice, piss, dirt, and cardamom. He was about to throw up again; he couldn’t believe he had trusted Nate. His stomach turned and his legs gave out. His vision blurred and the world went black.

 

* * *

 

 “Good morning sleepyhead”

 

Farkle opened his eyes. He didn’t remember getting into his bed, but somehow he had made it under the covers. His head hurt as he remembered what had happened earlier. He shot up and looked at his phone. The time was 12:37 am; he had been asleep for nearly 10 hours. He saw Nate sitting at the edge of his bed, and he started getting angry.

 

“Why would you do that to me? You got me sick and knocked me out! Do you have any idea how _illegal_ that is?” Farkle was fuming. He wasn’t about to miss another day of school because of this sadistic moron who found amusement in getting people sick.

 

“Do you feel better?” “ _What?_ ” “I said, do you feel better.” Farkle blinked. He didn’t realize his nausea and fever had disappeared. Nate really _did_ cure him with that small bottle of liquid hell. But he noticed that the back of his head was mildly throbbing.

 

“I’m not sick anymore, but my head still hurts.” Nate shrugged, “it’s not my fault you hit your head when you passed out. Next time, aim for your bed.” Farkle was starting to get really annoyed with this guy, and he wasn’t taking anything seriously. “Look, can you just tell me why you’re here? Is there a reason you tried this hard to get my attention or did someone just send you here because they really _really_ hate me?”

 

Nate suddenly remembered that he had a reason for being in Farkle’s room. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go overboard but like I said earlier, this is really important. I’ll state my case but you have to be willing to listen to me. I know I’ve put you through hell and back today, but please just give me a chance to explain.”

 

Farkle saw the look in Nate’s eyes and realized that for some reason, he needed Farkle. He sighed, “okay. Five minutes, that’s all you’ve got. I have to go to school tomorrow, so make your case fast.” Nate smiled and said, “sweet! Okay so you might not believe what I’m saying so don’t ask any questions until I’m done. I promise I’ll answer as many questions as I can when I’m finished. Deal?” Farkle nodded. “Okay, here I go.

 

“My full name is Nathan Holland, and as you can tell I am clearly not American. I was born in Liverpool but I grew up just outside of London. I’m 26 years old and I’m here recruiting you the same way I was recruited ten years ago. Well, Ethan didn’t get me sick like I got _you_ sick but, hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. Stop giving me that look Farkle, I know you want to talk but you have to wait until I’m done. Fine, I’ll skip the parts where I talk about my extremely interesting life and cut to the chase because you are being quite impatient. I work for YOUNG, the greatest youth spy organization the world has ever seen. Teenagers from all over the world are recruited for ten years of their life to help make the world a better place. My ten years are almost up, we have to retire from the agency when we turn 27 by the way, so my partner Mariam and I had to each choose someone to replace us. We weren’t allowed to talk about who we chose with each other so I have no clue where she is, but she’s talking to someone right now the same way that I’m talking to you. We had to choose someone who we thought would do the agency well. Someone loyal and trustworthy, someone courageous and intelligent. I’ve been observing you for the past year, stop looking at me like that _this is a very serious thing Farkle_ , and I really think you have the potential to be one of the greatest spies of this generation. I can’t tell you much more about the agency right now, but I need to know, are you, Farkle Minkus, willing to become an agent for YOUNG and an ambassador for today’s youth?”


	3. Riley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope if you're reading this, it means you're enjoying YOUNG. I am happy with the way the story has started out and I look forward to continuing on with it. I will try to post again in a few days. Another chapter means another dedication to Mira; I love you most.

“Am I _in_?”

Riley stared in disbelief at Mariam. How was she supposed to believe anything the woman had just said? She, Riley Matthews, was just recruited to be a _spy_? “And what agency is this exactly?” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“The agency is called YOUNG,” Mariam answered calmly.

“Well… that’s a stupid name,” Riley replied, extremely annoyed yet not annoyed enough to fire back a decent insult.

Mariam still looked entertained at Riley’s disbelief and attitude towards her, but she remained composed as she continued to reply to Riley in hopes of nullifying her. “YOUNG is an acronym, Riley. YOUNG is the Youth Organization to Unite the Next Generation. It’s an international spy agency for teens.”

Riley frowned. “Look, can you just be more detailed with your explanation? Because if you’re gonna stay vague then I’m just gonna call the cops on you for _stalking_ me for so long and breaking into my apartment.” Mariam smiled at this. “So you’ve noticed me?” Riley looked at her impatiently. “Are you taking that as a _compliment_?” “No no, I’m just impressed you saw me. I wasn’t exactly _trying_ to stay hidden but, still, you’re very astute.”

Mariam was being too level-headed about the entire situation. Riley kept getting angrier by the second. Who did this woman think she was?

“You had no right to break into my apartment, stalk me, or do anything you’ve been doing! I don’t want to join your stupid spy agency, I just want to make it through my junior year of high school without _dying_. Now, I appreciate the offer but, please leave my home before I call the police, and I _will_ do it.” Riley was shaking at this point, and all she could do was pray her parents got home in time to catch Mariam or call the cops themselves.

Mariam was no longer smiling. She picked up her pumps as she stood up and walked over to Riley, whose eyes got wider and nerve got smaller the closer Mariam got. “Listen Riley, I’m being serious here. _I_ want _you_ for YOUNG. I’m 26 and at the organization, that’s old. My partner and I have to retire next year and I want you to take my place. I genuinely believe you have the potential to excel as a spy so please, consider this offer. I know you’re mad at me, but I’m sorry; I can’t give away very much information about the organization if you’re considering declining. This is a serious matter and the organization is a very private agency. I’ll leave you alone, but I’ll give you my number.” She took a small device out of her pocket that was the size of a USB and handed it to Riley. It had numbers on it like an old-fashioned digital clock, but there were seven digits instead of four. Next to the screen was a pad that scanned thumb prints. “It changes every minute, but when you call, ask for Mariam.” Riley was stunned. “You change your phone number _every minute_?” “Well the agency doesn’t exactly want to be tracked,” she said in a way that made it seem like this was an obvious fact. “If anyone sees it, just flip the switch at the bottom to ‘clock’ so no one will get suspicious. Also, you can only see the phone number if your thumb is on the scanner, and only your thumb print works to activate it.” Riley was impressed, but did her best to hide it from Mariam.

“Anyways,” she continued, ignoring Riley’s attempt to cut her off, “call if you reconsider. You have 3 weeks to decide. If you don’t call by then, we will assume you do not want to be an agent and we will revoke our invitation. Remember, you are _forbidden_ from talking to your friends about it. I mean it Riley; I don’t care how close you are.” Mariam opened the door and was about to leave when she turned around. She spoke in a much softer tone as she said, “look, I know this is a lot to take in but, please, think about it. Call me if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them. We really want you Riley. I hope you can believe in yourself enough to take this risk because you really won’t regret it.” And with that, she left the apartment barefoot and shut the door behind her.

 

* * *

 

  
Riley was quiet for the rest of the day. She kept replaying her conversation with Mariam in her mind. Was she supposed to believe her? Besides, why would anyone want her to be a spy? She was tempted to tell Maya about it but something in her gut told her that she couldn’t betray Mariam like that. This woman had been _stalking_ her, why would Riley respect what she said? She didn’t know why, but she felt compelled to keep YOUNG a secret. Mariam also said she had a partner; were they doing the exact same thing to someone? Was someone else going through the exact same situation? She hoped not for the sake of whoever was being recruited to be her potential partner.

She didn’t know why she was being so skeptical about this situation. Riley was _known_ for being overly trusting, so why was it that she couldn’t bring herself to believe in this? Was it because it seemed so outlandish that even someone as gullible as her would be able to see through it? Or maybe because she didn’t have enough faith in herself to believe that she was wanted for something so important, that something so big could want someone as mediocre as her.

When her parents arrived home, she acted like nothing had happened. Her story was that she went to Topanga’s for a coffee and went home about an hour later, which was all the complete truth. She just decided to leave Mariam out of her recollections of her day. She hoped she was acting normal in front of her family, and due to the fact that no one seemed suspicious, she seemed to be doing well.

Maya stopped by at 8 at night with her backpack, asking if she could sleepover knowing the answer would be yes. She found Riley in her bedroom sitting at the bay window.

“Hey Riles,” Maya said as she sat down next to her. Riley rested her head on Maya’s shoulder despite their height difference and replied with a simple “hey.”

After a minute of sitting in comfortable silence, Maya turned to Riley and said, “I have a quick question.” Riley smiled and said, “you can ask me anything Maya, you know that.”

Maya asked, “why weren’t you at Topanga’s? I know you texted that you couldn’t make it but that’s not like you. You’re usually the first one there.” Riley’s expression faltered for a moment. Maya was barely able to notice it, but she knew Riley so well that she saw her face fall for a fraction of a second before returning to her usual grin. “Oh, I got there right after school and I was gonna wait for you guys there but my parents told me that you were only allowed to stay over if I came home and finished my homework here before you showed up.” Maya believed her but she still wasn’t sure why Riley froze after she asked her the question. She decided she wouldn’t bring it up.

The girls pretended to go to bed at 9:30 but ended up binge-watching _Friends_ until 12:30 when Riley woke up with a jolt and realized they had fallen asleep at the bay window with her computer on her lap. She managed to make Maya alert enough to stand up and walk over to her bed so that she could sleep there more comfortably instead of at the window. Riley stayed at her window for a few minutes to clear her head before she slept.

She was still unsure of what she would do. As much as she wanted to be a YOUNG agent, she didn’t think she could do it. She had to be realistic about this: first of all, Mariam could be a scammer. This could all be one big ruse to kidnap her and kill her. But on the other hand, Mariam had been watching Riley for a while. She had so many opportunities to harm her and she would have if that was her intention, but she never did. She never harmed Riley or even came into contact with her until today. She seemed genuine, which would mean that the offer was real, which brought up another concern.

What if Riley wasn’t good enough? She tended to be a self-conscious person who cared too much about others’ opinions of her. She hated being this way, but she couldn’t change, no matter how hard she tried. She wanted to be able to call Mariam up at that very moment and tell her she was willing to take up the position, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She knew she wasn’t capable enough to take up the job; she couldn’t bring herself to accept if she knew she wasn’t the right person for the job.

She accepted the fact that she wasn’t cut out to be a spy. Mariam said if she didn’t call within three weeks, they would know she was respectfully declining, so that’s what she decided on. It hurt that she was turning down such a good opportunity, but she told herself enough it would be for the best that she almost started believing it.


	4. Farkle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, this is for Mira. Also m + a for reasons you know. I hope you are enjoying YOUNG and I look forward to keep writing!

“I’m gonna need you to repeat everything you just said because either I’m still asleep or you just asked me to become a spy.”

 

Nate started laughing. “You heard me. Now, I told you I’d answer questions. So ask away.”

 

Farkle was a bit shocked that Nate was sticking to his word but, nonetheless, he wanted answers and Nate was willing to give them to him. “Okay, then let’s begin. Why is it called YOUNG?” 

 

“YOUNG is an acronym. The Youth Organization to Unite the Next Generation.”

 

“How many agents are in it?” 

 

“Classified.”

 

“I thought you said you would answer my questions!” Farkle yelled, forgetting that it was after midnight.  Nate shushed him. “Keep your voice down or you’re gonna get us both in trouble! I told you I would answer as many questions as I could, and some I truly can’t answer. Keep going.”

 

“Fine, where is YOUNG located?”

 

“Classified again, but there are different headquarters around the world.”

 

“Why did you say you’ve been watching me for a year?” 

 

“I had to be one-hundred percent sure you were right for the position before I approached you.”

 

“Who is the best agent in all of YOUNG history?” At this question, Nate’s expression became bashful.

 

“Well, you see, each agent has a partner, so they’re sort of seen as one unit. So, uh, there isn’t necessarily a best  _ individual _ spy so to speak, but there is a best  _ duo _ .” 

 

“Okay, then who are they?” Nate looked sheepish at this point and simply pointed to himself. 

 

Farkle’s mouth fell open. “Oh my god, _you’re the greatest spy_ _of all time_? Why in God’s name would you pick _me_ then? There are so many better candidates in the world!” 

“Hey, stop that. Don’t doubt yourself, Farkle. I chose you for a reason, even if you aren’t able to see it just yet. And no, I most certainly am  _ not _ the greatest spy of all time. Am I the greatest male youth spy of all time? ...Possibly. But I would be nowhere without my partner Mariam who is  _ easily _ the better spy. She deserves much more recognition than she gets.”

 

“Did you know each other before joining YOUNG?” 

 

“No, she’s from California. See, at YOUNG, you really aren’t allowed to be partnered up with someone you know. It’s against the rules, but then again, it’s the agents who choose the recruits. It’s happened a few times where the Committee of Recruitment have discovered a newly recruited pair who actually know each other during the process of background checking, and those agents had to start from scratch with their search and both recruits were denied by the Committee. Dreadful process, I’d  _ hate _ to do that again.”

 

Farkle sarcastically replied, “gee thanks! Glad you enjoyed stalking me so much!” “Hey listen man, I’ve got nothing against you but paperwork? My worst nightmare. Do you know how much paperwork this required? I signed my name more times for this than Harry Styles at a One Direction album signing. It was horrible.” Farkle laughed at this, and Nate cracked a smile. 

 

“You know Nate,” Farkle began, “I think you’re a really cool guy.” 

 

“Well thank you Farkle, that means a l-”

 

“Which makes this even harder for me to decline your offer.” Nate’s face fell. “What?” 

 

“I’m sorry Nate, you’ve got the wrong person here. I know I’m letting you down but I’m not your guy. I’d rather disappoint you now then when someone’s life depends on it. I’m sorry.” Both Nate and Farkle looked upset at this point. Nate turned to him and asked, “so you  _ don’t _ want to do it?” “No man, I would  _ love _ to do it. I’m just not cut out to be a spy. YOUNG needs someone more capable than me.” 

 

Nate ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “You don’t understand,  _ no one _ would be a better recruit than you. I  _ know _ this. There’s no one else I could pick that would outrank you! You are my first choice and I don’t want to accept that you really are declining. Here,” he replied, handing Farkle a small object from his pocket. “What is this, a clock?” Farkle asked. “No, it’s a digital device with my number on it, but it can be disguised as a clock. Just make sure you have it set to ‘phone’ and you keep your thumbprint on the pad. Then you can read my number and call me at any time. When the line picks up, ask for Nathan.”

 

Nate walked over to the window and was about to climb through it when he remembered a final thought he had for Farkle. “You have three weeks to make a final decision. After that, you’re officially out of the running. Oh, and don’t say anything about this to anyone. We spies value our privacy.” He winked and turned back to the window. 

 

Once he was out on the ledge, Farkle called out, “wait!” Nate turned around and looked Farkle in the eyes. “Sorry about all the extra paperwork.” A sad smile appeared on Nate’s face. He turned and climbed down the fire escape into the night, leaving Farkle feeling exhausted and alone with his thoughts and potential regrets.

 

* * *

 

“FARKLE WAKE UP!”

 

His head shot up off of his desk. He had fallen asleep during his English class, and all the work he had to show for the period was the piece of paper stuck to his face with his drool. The classroom was empty except for Maya, who was standing next to his desk looking extremely concerned.

 

Maya and Farkle were in the same honors English class. Maya discovered sophomore year that when she used the inspiration she found in her art and used it to write, she was actually quite talented. She began writing as a hobby, and she was one of the best writers in their junior class. She and Farkle sat next to each other every day, so class was livelier for him and more interesting. Well, clearly not interesting enough if he had fallen asleep.

 

“Farkle, you were asleep for the whole period! It’s lunch now... what happened to you?” Maya picked up the pencil that had fallen off of his desk and handed it to him. 

 

“Thanks,” he muttered, “and I guess I just didn’t sleep well last night.” 

 

“What do you mean?” she asked. “You always sleep well; you know exactly when to go to bed to ensure that you wake up and don’t look like, well how you look right now.” 

 

Farkle shrugged. “I kept waking up in the middle of the night. Probably still a little sick. I’ll be fine for the rest of the day though because of my nap.” He grabbed his backpack and the pair headed out to their usual lunch table.

 

They walked in silence for a minute. Maya was the first to speak, “I still can’t believe you missed a day of school.” “Hey, I’ve missed school before!” he replied, feeling the need to defend himself. “No you haven’t, and you have a perfect attendance award to prove it!” Farkle opened his mouth to protest when he realized she was right. Maya yelled “aha!” when she knew she’d stumped him and both of them started laughing. Her tone turned a bit more serious when she asked, “you’re okay though, right? I know how serious you are about school, so missing must’ve killed you. You’re  _ really _ feeling better?” 

 

Farkle smiled. Maya’s concern for his health warmed his heart, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I’m feeling much better, thanks for asking, Maya.” She smiled up at him and they kept walking.

 

When they reached the table, their friends had already taken their seats and started eating. Zay was sitting between Isadora and Riley, and Lucas was sitting on the other side of the table. “Farkle fell asleep in English!” “ _ Maya _ .” Maya laughed mischievously at Farkle’s angry expression and took a seat next to Lucas, who smiled as she held his hand. 

 

Riley looked up and smiled when she saw Farkle walking towards them. “Did you really fall asleep?” she asked laughing. “Yes, but I have a good reason. I was sick! By the way, loved the playlist,” he remarked as he took the seat across from her. 

 

Her smile widened. “You listened to it! I was afraid you didn’t feel well enough to play it, but I’m glad you liked it.” Yeah, well what I  _ didn’t _ appreciate was almost slipping in the shower because ‘Everything Is Awesome’ started blaring throughout my whole damn house.” Riley laughed so hard that she choked on her sandwich. She started coughing, while Zay clapped her on the back a couple of times until she insisted she was okay.

 

Farkle was always amazed by her exceptional clumsiness. While she had grown out of her lanky physique and grew into a much more coordinated person, she still had moments where everyone could still see seventh grade Riley shine through her. Something about her just made Farkle forget about all of his problems, whether it was listening to her tell a story about Maya or watching her cough up a ham sandwich. 

 

She got up from the table and went with Isadora to buy a bottle of water to soothe her throat. Farkle watched them walk away until he heard someone clear their throat. He looked back at his friends who remained at the table to find that they were all staring at him with amused expressions. “What did I do?”

 

Zay was the first to speak up. “We were just watching you stare at Riley with those adorable puppy eyes,” he teased, resting his chin on his hands while blinking innocently. Maya and Lucas snickered. 

 

Farkle turned to glare at them, “shut up you two, neither of you can talk. Me just looking at Riley is _nothing_ compared to your excessive PDA.” “Hey! The most we’ve ever done in front of you is hold hands! And besides, we’re _actually_ _dating_.” Lucas replied defensively. Maya shushed him, “relax Huckleberry. Farkle’s just getting worked up because he refuses to admit his feelings for a certain someone.” 

 

Zay jumped in, “yeah! Let the boy live, he needs time to realize what we’ve been telling him for years.” Farkle scowled and continued to eat his lunch. His friends continued to laugh at his discomfort, and Maya ruffled his hair. Why the sudden interest in how he felt about Riley?

 

He had to admit, Riley was his first love. Since the day he met her, he knew she was going to be a special person in his life. Her radiant joy and compassion were her dominant personality traits, and there wasn’t a single thing Farkle disliked about her. He had long since abandoned the idea of her ever reciprocating feelings for him and constantly reminded himself that it was more important to have her in his life than to tell her the truth about his how he felt. He would rather shove those thoughts deep down instead of ruining their lifelong friendship while they were still young.

 

Young. 

 

Farkle’s attention was brought back to the agency. He felt horrible about letting Nate down, but he knew he wasn’t up for the job. How could Nate see that potential in him when he barely knew him? He was torn. He wanted to join YOUNG more than he cared to admit. Throughout the day, he kept imagining what his life would be like if he had said yes to Nate. He pictured his life would resemble that of Hannah Montana, minus the wig and choreographed dance routines. 

 

He knew accepting would be a huge risk, and he didn’t know if he was ready for that. He wasn’t worried about being able to balance spy work and the rest of his life; he was always very good with time management. He was worried about the responsibility he would be facing. He would be a representative of YOUNG, an ambassador for his generation. What if he messed up? What if he slipped up one tiny mistake he made would put someone else’s life in danger? Was he prepared to be a potential international disappointment?

 

On the  _ other _ hand, Farkle had never really taken a risk in his life. He had always played it safe. What if, for once, he took a leap of faith? What if he actually ended up  _ not _ being a major disappointment, but actually turning out to be a good spy? He knew he would want to take this opportunity; there was only one question he knew he had to answer immediately: did he have the guts to do it?

 

Farkle was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Lucas ask him if he was alright. Zay threw his empty water bottle at Farkle and it hit his nose. Farkle jolted back to reality and looked around at his friends with a confused expression. “What do you want?” he asked. 

 

“Chill Farkle, we just wanted to check if you were okay. You zoned out for a minute there and we didn’t know what happened,” Lucas defended. Farkle put a smile on his face and told his friends, “I’m fine. Still a little nauseous but, hey, you don’t exactly get over being sick that easily.”  _ He _ did, thanks to Nate, but he wasn’t about to expose it to his friends. His answer was good enough for Lucas and Maya, but something about it still made Zay wary. 

 

“Are you sure? Is there anything else on your mind?” he asked Farkle, who simply wanted his friend to stop paying such close attention to him.

 

“Yeah man, I’m sure. You know I’d tell you if anything was wrong.” This seemed to satisfy Zay, and he turned his attention from Farkle to the couple sitting across from him. “So what’s new with you lovebirds?” he asked. 

  
As the three friends carried on a conversation, Farkle pretended to be interested when in reality, he couldn’t get YOUNG out of his mind. What would he do? Farkle Minkus had never been one to procrastinate or do  _ anything _ right before a deadline, but he was going to have to wait two weeks and six days to make his decision. There was no way he would be able to figure out what to do any sooner than that. 


	5. Riley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Mira, thank you for everything you've done for me. Also, this chapter is my favorite I've written so far. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

“Feeling any better?”

 

Riley was still recovering from hacking up the chunk of her sandwich that she had accidentally lodged in her throat because she’d made the mistake of laughing while eating. 

 

“I’m better now, thanks Smackle.” “No problem,” Isadora responded, “but next time you really should be more careful.” “I know I know, I have to chew and swallow before I start laughing,” replied Riley as she took another sip of water. Isadora shrugged, “well, that and make your crush on Farkle a little less obvious.”

 

At this comment, Riley sprayed the water in her mouth out and Smackle started laughing. Luckily, no one got directly hit, but now there was water all over the floor. Riley ran to the bathroom and grabbed a handful of paper towels to clean up the mess, and it barely took the girls a minute combined to mop up the water. Once they finished, Isadora saw how flustered Riley was. “Damn, someone can’t keep their food  _ or _ beverages down today,” she remarked. 

 

Riley scowled, “ _ no _ Isadora, I do  _ not  _ have a crush on Farkle. Besides, he’s your ex. I couldn’t do that to you.” “Oh I really don’t mind,” Smackle said. “Farkle and I ended on really good terms because we both knew how important our friendship is. We just didn’t feel the same emotions we did when we first got together, but we still care about each other. And are you really trying to tell me you don’t have feelings for him?”

 

“Why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?” “Well,  _ something’s _ on your mind today, I just can’t figure out what it is,” Isadora told her. Riley froze; was it  _ that _ obvious that she had been so distracted?

 

Ever since the day before, Riley couldn’t get YOUNG out of her mind. She was horrible to Mariam, and she wished she could apologize, but she didn’t trust the clock with her number and refused to call. But the more Riley thought about YOUNG, the more she realized that she still wasn’t sure about her decision. Was she right to admit that she wasn’t capable of handling the responsibility of being a spy? Or did she actually have a shot at being a fairly decent agent? She still had a lot of questions she needed to answer for herself before her three weeks were up.

 

“Look Smackle, I appreciate your concern but I’m just… tired.” Riley could tell that Isadora didn’t believe her, but nonetheless, she didn’t press on. “Alright, let’s go back to our table. Maybe we can all hang out tonight?  _ Captain America: Civil War  _ is on DVD and  _ Zootopia _ just came out on Netflix.” Riley smiled, “sure Smackle, that sounds like a lot of fun. Let’s tell the others when we get back.”

 

On their way back to the table, Riley continued to think about Mariam. She didn’t know how she could make her decision within three weeks- it wasn’t nearly enough time. This was more important than the SAT or ACT (which reminded her that she needed to sign up for those soon); this was a decision that would have a greater impact than any other crossroads she had ever reached in her sixteen years of life. 

 

Also, why did Smackle assume Riley had feelings for Farkle? Sure they were best friends, but they didn’t act differently than anyone else. She thought they both acted normal, but apparently Isadora disagreed. Did all of their friends feel this way? God, she hoped not. She had never really looked at Farkle from anything other than a platonic viewpoint, so Isadora’s comment took her by surprise. 

 

Returning to their friends, Riley questioned, “so, are we hanging out tonight? Topanga’s, then my place for movies? Smackle suggested  _ Civil War _ and  _ Zootopia _ .” She looked around the table and everyone seemed to be on board, but Farkle seemed distracted. “Farkle, is that cool with you? Or do you wanna do something else?” she asked him. He looked up at her and for a second, she saw his expression. 

 

He looked preoccupied and almost worried; she felt her emotions reflected on his expression. It was almost as if he knew what she was going through or he was going through the same thing. His face quickly changed and he smiled. “No, that sounds good to me! Topanga’s right after school, or does anyone need to go home first?” he asked the group. No one else had noticed his change in facial expression, but no one knew him as well as Riley did. She would talk to him later about it.

 

“ _ Well, _ I wanna wear my pajamas so I have to go home and grab them, which I’m assuming everyone else has to do as well,” Maya remarked. Everyone suddenly realized they needed things from their house too, so they agreed to rendezvous at Topanga’s as soon as they got all their belongings they would need. They didn’t know how, but Riley’s parents let all of her friends sleep over, as long as the girls stayed in Riley’s room and the boys stayed in the family room. They knew how lucky they were to have gained that trust from them, so they made sure to never break the rule.

 

The bell rang, and the friends went their separate ways for their next class. Riley was excited to have her friends over, but she was still deciding what she should do about YOUNG. She hoped this fun night would distract her.

 

The six friends left school at the same time but Riley was the first one to get to Topanga’s because, unlike everyone else, she didn’t have to get clothes from home for the night. She sat at their usual table and ordered herself a drink as she waited for her friends to arrive. She brought her thoughts back to YOUNG because she knew she would have to make a decision soon. She couldn’t keep stressing herself out over it, and she wanted to feel the crushing weight lifted off of her chest. Therefore she told herself that in twenty-four hours, she would know what she would do.

 

She heard the door open and saw Maya and Lucas walk in. When they saw her, they stopped holding hands, looking a bit nervous. They sat down and Lucas awkwardly started, “um, hey Riley.” Riley was amused at their discomfort whenever the three of them were alone. “Lucas, I know we had a thing in middle school but that’s over. I don’t like you like that and I’m happy you two are together. Now will you  _ please _ stop acting like this every time it’s just the three of us because it’s getting annoying.” Lucas cracked a smile and Maya started laughing. 

 

Riley went on, “come on. Get all coupley on me. Show me how cute you guys can be.” Lucas put his arm around Maya. Riley scoffed, “is that the best you can do, Friar?” Lucas raised his brows in surprise and replied, “alright, I’ll show you my best.” He turned to Maya and pulled her face close as he kissed her. Maya, who was extremely taken aback, had her eyes open wide in shock. She closed them as she fell into the kiss. 

 

Riley was smiling as they pulled away. “Better. I don’t want you guys feeling awkward about your relationship. We’re  _ all _ happy you guys are finally together,” she told them. They both smiled at her, and Maya replied, “thank you, Riles. We wouldn’t wanna make you uncomfortable or do anything that would ruin our friendship.” “I know, Maya,” she told the blonde, “but don’t worry. I’m just happy that you guys are happy.”

 

“Y’know, you’ll find someone soon too,” Maya offered. “I know, but I’m not looking for anything right now,” Riley replied. “Besides, there isn’t anyone I’m interested in right now.” Lucas and Maya exchanged knowing glances. 

 

“What was that?” Riley asked the giggling pair. After they had calmed down, Lucas shrugged and Maya smiled innocently as she replied, “nothing. Nothing at all.” Immediately after, she and Lucas started laughing again. 

 

“What’s so funny?” Riley was confused because she had never said anything to her friends about liking anyone. Maya looked at her and raised her brows, “are you  _ sure _ there’s no one you have in mind?” Riley shook her head, “no one at all.” “No one in our friend group even?” Lucas chimed in. Riley wrinkled her brows in confusion. “Not that  _ I _ know of, unless you two wanna tell me how I feel about someone.” Maya stopped laughing and told Lucas, “let it go, Huckleberry. If she doesn’t realize it now, she’ll realize it soon enough.” “What do you m-” Riley was cut off by the rest of their friends entering the bakery.

 

“You already ordered drinks without us?  _ Not cool _ . We would’ve waited for you!” Zay exclaimed as he plopped down onto one of the benches. Farkle and Smackle sat down with much less vigor than Zay, but still amused. Riley shot an angry look at Maya and Lucas, who were innocently batting their eyes at her. She would make them finish this conversation later because she wanted to know what they were about to say.

 

“No you wouldn’t have,” Lucas replied. Zay paused before he responded, “okay but that still wasn’t cool man.” Lucas laughed and told him, “sorry man, next time we’ll wait.” 

 

The friends carried on with their conversations and talked about their day, but Riley found it hard to focus on the topics at hand. She saw herself leaning towards saying yes to Mariam, but she couldn’t figure out why. All she could think about was the agency, and she didn’t even realize it had started getting dark out until Maya pulled her out of her seat and the six friends made their way to Riley’s apartment. 

 

They spent all night watching movies, and the six fell asleep on the couch in the middle of  _ Zootopia _ . Riley was the last of her friends to nod off, but as she sat there holding Maya’s hand and resting her head on Farkle’s shoulder, she realized that no matter what she chose, she would be alright.

 

* * *

 

Riley awoke to the absence of her pillow, also known as Farkle. She was still holding Maya’s hand, but the leather cushion to her right was cold. She figured he had gone to the bathroom, and she grabbed her phone to check the time. It read 6:35am; she slowly eased off of the couch so she wouldn’t wake up any of her other friends. She thought for a moment about what she could do since she knew there was no way she could go back to sleep. She would have to remember to wake the others up before her parents got up and saw the boys and girls asleep in the same room. She glanced at the window and guessed that the sun would rise soon, so she made her way up to the rooftop in hopes that she would catch a glimpse of the sunrise.

 

When she reached the top, she discovered that someone else had gotten the same idea. She walked towards Farkle and sat down next to him on an abandoned chair near the edge of the rooftop. “Good morning,” she whispered, too tired to speak at her normal volume. “How long have you been up here?” she asked. He turned to her and smiled. “Good morning, I just got up here a few minutes ago. Sorry, did I wake you when I left?” he asked apologetically. 

 

She looked at him and couldn’t help but smile. “No, don’t worry about it. I’m glad I’m up though, now we can watch the sunrise together.” Riley scooted her chair closer to Farkle and rested her head on his shoulder, the same way the pair fell asleep. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Farkle asked, “is everything okay, Riley?”

 

She looked up at him confused. “What do you mean?” she asked. He looked at her and she could see a look of concern in his eyes. “You didn’t seem like yourself yesterday. Is there something on your mind? Do you wanna talk to me about anything? You know you can trust me.” Riley was shocked; she was going to talk to him about the same thing. He had seemed distant and distracted the day before and she wanted to check up on him, but he had beaten her to the punch.

 

“I was actually going to ask  _ you _ that question, Farkle,” she told him. He looked stunned as he replied, “ _ me _ ? What do you mean?” “Well,” she began, “I’m not the only one who didn’t seem like themselves. You looked like something was bugging you. Do  _ you _ have anything you wanna discuss?” 

 

They shared another moment of silence, in which they each debated whether or not they would share their internal struggles with each other, before Farkle faced her and said, “okay. Let’s say I was at a crossroads. Hypothetically, of course. I would either drive through the road that I know the route to and continue to live my life how I’m living it right now.  _ Or, _ I would take the road that I’ve never taken before. I don’t know if there are potholes or if I’m about to drive through quicksand. I don’t know if there’s a landmine in the middle of the street. I don’t know if there will be a million horrors on that street, or if something good will come from it. Which road do  _ you _ think I should take? Do you think I’m good enough to take a risk like that?” 

 

Riley gaped at him. He stared at her with hopeful eyes but she was too shocked to say anything to him. He had described the exact same situation she was facing with YOUNG. She wasn’t about to ask him to give her details because he had clearly left them out for a reason, but she didn’t know how he could relate so much to her until this very moment. She looked into his eyes and, recalling her conversation with Isadora, tried to look at Farkle as someone other than her best friend.

 

In addition to his chapped lips and flushed cheeks from the frigid morning air, he looked exhausted. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was ruffled because he had the habit of playing with it when he got agitated or nervous. His stormy blue eyes clearly showed that his fear of choosing the wrong decision was killing him, but she also saw hope in them. He had hope for himself, as small as it was, but he needed reassurance. He wanted to know that someone else had faith in him. And in that moment, the butterflies in her stomach told Riley Matthews that Farkle Minkus was not just her best friend, he was much more to her. She couldn’t believe how long it had taken her to realize her feelings for him. Should she tell him now? Was it the right time?

 

“Riley?” he asked her, pulling her out of her trance. “You’ve been quiet for a while. What do you think?” he asked. As nervous as she had just gotten, she held his hand and told him, “do it. Take that leap of faith, Farkle. If there’s anyone that can survive any situation thrown their way, it’s you.” He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Thank you Riley. That means a lot to me. I don’t know what you’re going through, but whatever it is, I have faith that you’ll know what to do. You are the most resilient person I know, and I want you to know that you’ve always got me rooting for you, no matter what.” 

 

Riley felt a surge of adrenaline run through her. This was all she needed to help her take the leap of faith. She was going to do it; she, Riley Matthews, notorious super-klutz and emotional mess, was going to be a spy. She told herself she would call Mariam once her friends went home, but she was already excited for the adventure ahead. She was about to venture into an unknown area with new obstacles that would challenge her physical strength and the strength of her character, but she was ready. Now, there 

was one more thing she wanted to do, even though every part of her told her it wasn’t the right time.

  
“Farkle, I have to tell you something,” she forced herself to say. The smile slipped slightly from his face when he noticed how serious she had gotten. Then, his attention drifted away from Riley and he was looking at something behind her. He was no longer smiling and looked terrified as he yelled “look out!” at her. She reacted a moment too late, and the world went black.

 


	6. Farkle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Life has been pretty hectic so I might be updating every week or so, so don't think I've forgotten about this when I haven't updated. I love writing it and hope you are enjoying it so far! For Mira again. Also, Rachel, Marita, and Mel: you've already read this but I love you endlessly.

Farkle was, as the kids say, shook.

 

He hated using contemporary lingo like that, but there were no other words to describe the shock and pure fear that were coursing through his veins at that very moment. His best friend and the girl he loved (yes he said it, he loved her) had just been knocked out cold by a stranger with a baseball bat, and he was the only person who could save her. The confidence that she had in him gave him the strength to make the decision to join YOUNG, but his moment of joy had been short lived. He was so focused on Riley and what she was saying that he didn’t see the man in the ski mask sneak up behind her until it was too late. 

 

The stranger picked Riley up and slung her limp body over his shoulder. He was extremely buff, so carrying her was no trouble at all. He proceeded to climb over the edge of the building and began scaling the wall with a rope that Farkle hadn’t noticed hanging over the side of the building until now. He ran to the edge and looked down helplessly as he saw Riley and the man get farther and farther away from him. 

 

Farkle ran down the stairs from the rooftop and descended back into the apartment complex. He hopped onto the elevator and guessed that the universe would be on his side and would prevent the elevator from making stops on the way down because if there was one time in his life he needed the universe to love him, it would be right now. He, of course, was wrong and the universe still hated him.

 

The apartment complex was ten stories high. By the time the elevator had reached the fifth level, it had already stopped at every floor. If he wanted to catch the man in time to save Riley, he would have to find a different way to get downstairs. He jumped out as soon as the elevator doors opened on the fifth floor and ran to the staircase. He knew he would be out of breath by the time he got downstairs, but he had no other choice. Taking the elevator was a waste of time, and time was something he was lacking. 

 

By the time he had reached the final set of stairs, he was panting and sweating more than he had in his entire gym class. He jumped down the last few steps and bolted out of the building. He looked around, trying to find the man and Riley on the building, but they weren’t anywhere on the walls. Farkle frantically looked up and down the street, hoping he wasn’t too late

 

He looked at the sidewalk to his right and saw a fuzzy slipper lying on the floor. Riley’s slipper. It had to be hers; who else would wear fuzzy purple slippers with cats on them? He ran towards it and picked it up. He turned the street corner and felt a rush of relief as he saw the man and Riley. It was obviously not good that he still had her, but at least he knew where she was. The man reached a white van and unlocked it. Farkle didn’t know how they’d gotten down the building so fast. Had the elevator delayed him  _ that  _ much? The man carefully laid Riley down in the back of the van and closed the back door. He climbed into the front seat, and Farkle knew that if he let them get away, he would never see Riley again. 

 

Farkle sprinted towards the van, but the man had already begun driving away by the time he had reached where it was parked. Farkle found a pink bike with a matching helmet leaning on a parking meter and hopped on it while securing the helmet strap around his neck. He began rapidly pedaling towards the van, ignoring the angry pre-teen screaming at him for stealing her bike. “I’LL GIVE IT BACK LATER,” he hollered behind him. He increased his pace even though his legs felt like gelatin. He couldn’t give up on Riley.

 

All of a sudden, Farkle began falling head over heels. He had driven over a pothole and the bike had done a perfect flip in the air. Well,  _ almost _ perfect. If it had done a full turn, Farkle would have landed straight up and wouldn’t have hit his head so hard against the pavement that the helmet shattered. He landed on his shoulder; his vision blurred and his head pounded. He had to go after Riley, but he was in so much pain that he was physically unable to do anything. He was in the middle of the street, probably about to die, and he had miserably failed at saving his best friend. Then he felt someone lift him up, and searing pain shot up from his hand to his shoulder. 

 

He cried out. Whoever had lifted him up was yelling like a worried mother, but Farkle was in too much pain to even see what the stranger looked like. He couldn’t see and could barely walk, but the stranger was dragging him to the bench on the sidewalk. She carefully set him down and held his chin up so he was looking at her. He still couldn't clearly see, but he could tell that she was pretty. When she spoke, he heard the concern in her voice. “Can you hear me? Can you see? Are you even conscious? _Just_ _say something_!” He tried telling her he was fine, but then he felt a sharp pain shoot to his shoulder again. This had to be the absolute worst week of his life. First, Nate had gotten him so sick that he felt like he was dying. Next, his best friend was kidnapped. Now, he was in so much pain and didn't know if he could save her anymore because he couldn't even tell where he was. 

 

“Do you know where you are?” the woman asked him. Farkle could only manage to shake his head slightly, which made his vertigo worse. “Okay, stop moving and try not to talk. Let me just make a quick call, then I’ll see what I can do to help.” She took her phone out of her purse, along with a small device the size of a flash drive. Farkle’s vision cleared up enough for him to see it in her hand, and he recognized it as the device Nathan gave him that had his number on it. “Did you steal that from me?” he asked her, too sore to even check his own pockets to see if his was actually there. She looked up at him with confusion. “Are you talking about my phone?” she asked him, not knowing that he’d seen the other device. 

 

“No,” he said, wincing as he turned towards her to point at what she was holding in her hand. “That. The number thing.” She stared at him for a minute, before replying, “no, this is mine. Ah shit, the numbers changed. Now I have to redial. Hold on one second,” she told Farkle as she called a number she read off of the device. She waited a few seconds before whoever was on the other line picked up.

 

“Hey. Did you do it? Okay good. No, I’m not even there yet. I’ve hit a little speed bump,” she said as she glanced at the poor condition Farkle was in. “Yes, I’ll get him soon, don’t worry about me. What’s his name again? Wait, what’s wrong? What do you mean by ‘problem’?” 

 

Farkle looked over at her and saw how worried she was. He wondered what the person on the phone had said that made her so nervous. “But they checked! They couldn’t let this happen, it isn’t allowed!” she yelled into the phone. “We’ll talk about this later but I’m gonna do what I was told to. If they made a mistake, it isn’t our fault. They gave us the okay to go and get..” she trailed off when she noticed how intently Farkle was staring at her. “Look, I’ll call you later. I gotta go, bye.” She ended the call and ran her hands through her hair. 

 

“Are you okay?” he asked her. She looked at him and smiled, “your shoulder is dislocated and you have a concussion yet you’re asking if  _ I’m _ okay? Who even are you, kid?” 

 

He replied, “I’ve had a rough couple of days so I’d rather not give my name out to strangers. Sorry.” “No, that’s smart. I’m glad you’re being precautious,” she told him. She was smiling at him, and he felt somewhat safe with her next to him.

 

“So tell me, what happened to you? Why had you collapsed in the middle of the street?” she asked. He thought of Riley and contemplated telling the woman about his situation, but he was wary enough as it was. He decided against it, but wondered if she could still help him.

 

“How’d you know I dislocated my shoulder? How can you tell?” he asked, ignoring her question. “I’ve had my fair share of injuries,” she said laughing. “I know a dislocated shoulder when I see one. I also might have something to help you heal quickly because it looks to me like you were in a rush.” 

 

She reached into her purse and pulled out a pill case. When she found the pill she was looking for, she picked it up and put the case back in her bag. “Here,” she said, holding the pill out to him. “This  _ should _ fix everything. Do you need water or can you swallow it by itself?” “No, I can do it,” he replied, slowly stretching his arm out so he could take the pill from her without hurting himself even more. She dropped it into his hand, and he stared at it nervously. “What does this do again?” he asked. “Everything,” she told him. Not the answer he wanted to hear, but he didn’t have any more time to waste. He threw the pill in his mouth and swallowed it.

 

He felt a burning sensation course through his body. It was as if he had just drank a gallon of gasoline and eaten a burning match. He was in so much pain for the millionth time in the past few days, but the feeling quickly melted away. He didn’t realize his eyes were closed until he opened them and could clearly see the woman standing next to him. She looked Middle Eastern and probably had a good ten years on him. Her eyes were hazel, and when she faced the sun, they looked golden. “Better?” she asked.

 

Farkle had already forgotten the pain he was in moments ago. “Um, yeah. I don’t feel any pain anymore. Thanks…” he looked at her expectantly. “I’m Mariam,” she said, “now can you say your name since I said mine? You can trust strangers sometimes, you know,” she went on. He contemplated what he should do, but she had really helped him out and he owed it to her to at least say who he was. “Alright fine, I’m Farkle,” he said, noticing the change in her expression as he said his name. 

 

“Farkle? That’s like a nickname, right?” Farkle could’ve sworn she sounded hopeful, but quickly shook the idea from his mind. “No, that’s my name.” “Your first name?” she asked, her voice cracking slightly. “Yeah,” he told her, “I know it’s weird but it’s not like I chose it, my parents did.” He felt defensive and didn’t know why she was so worried about his name. “No no! It’s not weird, it’s really cool!” Mariam said. “It’s just…” she trailed off, and a thought occurred to her.

 

“I just remembered. The pill I gave you needs to be taken with another one to make sure your… blood pressure… is stabilized,” she told him as she rummaged through her bag for her pill case again. “But I feel fi-” Farkle was cut off as she opened his mouth for him and put the pill in. He started getting nervous because of how quickly her behavior had changed. She had gone from friendly and caring to anxious and fidgety in less than a minute. 

 

“How are you feeling?” she asked, not looking at him. “I’m okay, I feel the same as I did be- before,” he stuttered, feeling himself grow weak. “W-what did you do?” He started to feel lightheaded and his arms felt too heavy for his body. She turned to him and he saw that she was about to cry. “I’m sorry, I wish I didn’t have to do that,” she replied as a tear slid down her cheek. 

 

He couldn’t move. He didn’t know what she had done but he couldn’t stay awake for much longer. “Then why did you?” he asked, willing himself to keep talking so he could stay awake. But the pill had already taken over, and he felt the world turn dark. The last words he heard before he passed out were, “you’ll see.”

 

* * *

 

When Farkle woke up, he found that he was lying in an unfamiliar bed and had a gag in his mouth. He tried spitting it out, but it was tied around his head. His arms and legs were bound together, so he couldn’t pull it off of his face. He wiggled his head around until his mouth was free. “Don’t yell, they’ll get mad at us,” a familiar voice said feebly beside him. “Thanks for trying to save me though.”

 

He turned to his left and felt his blood turn cold. There, lying in the bed next to him, was Riley, bound the same way he was. He had failed in his attempt to save her, and he had gotten kidnapped just like her. Her eyes were puffy, and he could tell she’d been crying. He wished he could get them out of the mess they had ended up in, but he didn’t even know where they were. 

  
“So,” she began in a low tone, “I have a plan to get us out of here, but only if you trust me. Do you trust me, Farkle?”


	7. Riley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello all! im so sorry I haven't updated in forever but life has been so hectic; I hope this update can make up for it! i'll try to update again as soon as possible. dedicated to hlh for pushing me to update and mira, my editing wife who never lets me down. enjoy!

“Do I trust you?” Farkle asked her. 

He had just woken up, but Riley had been lying awake for hours planning their escape. She had tried to wake him up, but he clearly didn’t get knocked out quite as easily as she did. She was getting impatient, but at least she had time to figure out what they were going to do until he finally woke up.

“Riley, I trust you with my life, which at this rate may not be very long.” His voice was hoarse, and she wondered what he had gone through to try and save her before he was also taken. He looked even more exhausted than when she had seen him last. His hair was a mess, and he was covered in bruises. She wanted to hug him and tell him they’d be okay. She wanted to be able to get him out of the situation they were in, but she didn’t even know if her plan would work. Nothing was foolproof, but they had a chance at pulling it off, no matter how slim their chance really was.

“So… what’s the plan?” he asked quietly. “Wait,” he cut her off as she opened her mouth and began to reply, “tell me where we are first, or at least tell me everything you know,” he said.

“Well,” she started, “I don’t really know much but I’ll tell you everything I know. My plan isn’t really time-reliant, so we can talk about everything that happened up until now. Are you cool with that, or would you rather hear everything later?”

“I think I should know the full story before anything else happens,” he decided.

“Alright, I’ll start from the beginning,” and Riley began to tell Farkle the last events she remembered, along with everything that had happened since she had woken up. She felt herself reliving the events as she told them to him-

The last event that was clear in her mind, before blacking out, was talking to Farkle. She didn’t remember the last thing that was said and she didn’t remember how she had been knocked out, but her head hurt for hours after waking up so she had a slight suspicion about what had occurred. When she came to, she thought she was in a small room with walls covered in pillows, but she soon realized that the jerky motions of the “room” and the loud noises outside were happening because of the fact that she was actually locked in the back of a van.

She spent a good ten minutes looking for the door or a window, but every wall was boarded up so well that she barely knew which direction the car was headed in. She sat down and rested her back against one wall so she could determine the front of the vehicle. Once she figured it out, she went to the wall at the rear of the car and felt it to see if she could find some sort of opening for it. Because of her disorientation and the jerky movements of the car, she was unable to find a way out. When the car slowed to a halt, she realized that whoever captured her would probably assume that she was still asleep, so she stood facing the door and prepared herself to fight whoever had captured her. When the door opened, sunlight came streaming into Riley's room of solitude. She blindly launched herself at the man who opened it and landed on his back. "Hey! Get _off of me_ !" he yelled, and she noticed that he had a British accent. _Wonderful_ , she thought, _I’m sure the sketch artist for the NYPD would love that fact about my kidnapper. Wait, if it’s his voice, the sketch artist wouldn’t need to know that._ She was jolted out of her thoughts as she clung to his neck and refused to let go, no matter how much her captor bucked and squirmed. He reached back and grab her by the waist and threw her over his head so that she was now standing in front of him. 

Shocked and terrified, Riley’s knees locked beneath her. She didn't fall because the man was still holding onto her waist, but he didn't look evil. She didn't understand how someone with such kind eyes and such a caring and worried expression could have kidnapped her. when she remembered that he’d kidnapped her, she started screaming and writhing. "No no no, please _stop screaming Riley._ " she froze and stared at him. “How the hell do you know my name?" she asked. The man realized his mistake but quickly recovered as he replied, “that’s what your friend called you on the rooftop.”

Riley didn’t have time to contemplate the hesitation of the man before he provided his excuse, she just knew she had to get as far away from him as possible. “Why did you do this?” she yelled at him. “Who are you and _why did you kidnap me?_ ” He looked miserable and he yelled back, “I’m _sorry_ Riley, I’ve never done this before! They never put me on these types of assignments! They think I’m this tough, merciless guy but I can’t do… whatever _this_ is!” he said angrily.

“What’s your name?” Riley questioned. “Why?” the man responded warily. “Well, it’s not fair that you get to say my name but I don’t get to say yours.” He paused for a minute before holding out his hand and saying, “you can call me Holland.”

 “Holland? Like Tom Holland? The new Spider-man?” she inquired. He chuckled and said, “yeah. Just like the new Spider-man.”

 It was at this point that Farkle cut her off. “Hold on, his name was Holland? Was that his first or last name?” he asked nervously. “First name I think, but I didn’t ask,” she responded, confused as to why this made Farkle so fidgety. “Sorry,” he told her, “continue.” She refocused on the scene in her mind and delved back into the scenario at hand.

 She remember smiling at his Spider-man comment and asking him, “if you hate your job so much, why are you still doing stuff like this?” He looked at her with a confused expression on his face. “Hate my job? Oh no, I _love_ my job. It’s just this one task that I hate.” “Well what _do_ you do then?” she asked. “Sorry love, can’t tell you,” he shrugged.

 “Fine, then can you at least tell me why you snatched me?” she pleaded. He hesitated before replying, “sure, but not out here. Too many security cameras. Follow me,” and he walked around the house they had parked in front of. Riley paused for a moment and looked around her, contemplating her decision. She could try and jump in the van and drive away, but she didn’t have her phone for navigation and he had taken the keys with him. She stared at the house for a moment longer before running after him. He walked very fast and Riley had to jog just to keep up with him. They had reached a door and he opened it for her. She saw that there was a set of stairs and assumed they led to a basement. “Uh uh,” she told him. “You’re going in first. It’s too late for you to be chivalrous because that ship sailed when you smacked me into unconsciousness.” He rolled his eyes and walked down the steps, turning on the flashlight of his phone as he went. Riley followed behind him, letting her eyes adjust to the dimly lit room before observing her surroundings.

There were a couple beds near the back of the room and the only way she could tell was because of the single light bulb dangling from the ceiling. She saw another staircase across the room with a door at the top and wondered what was behind it. Was this Holland’s house? She was emotionally drained and just wanted answers. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Holland running back up the stairs they came from until he had reached the top step and opened the door. “WAIT!” she yelled at him, furious at herself for letting him get away.

The door slammed and she heard a faint “sorry!” coming from outside. She stomped her foot in frustration and looked around the room. She saw a bed in the opposite corner and dramatically plopped herself onto it. The severity of the situation set in and she started to tear up. She had no idea what she had even done to the people behind her kidnapping, but she didn’t even care. She just wanted to go home to her friends. She wanted to watch Netflix with Maya in the bay window with the sun streaming through the glass keeping them warm. She wanted to go to Topanga’s and have coffee with her friends. She did _not_ want to lie on this dusty mattress and feel sorry for herself. She fell asleep on that bed waiting for someone to show up, literally anyone. She woke up with a jolt as someone slammed the door to the basement open. 

She noticed Holland and a man she didn’t recognize carrying a body down the stairs. Riley lost all the feeling in her body when she saw who they were carrying. Farkle was unconscious and the two men gently placed him on the bed next to Riley’s. He was covered in scrapes and bruises. She was in too much shock to move; all she could do was whisper, “what did you do to him?” Holland began, “Riley-” and it was in that moment that Riley felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through her, fueled by her anger. She got up off of the bed and punched Holland in the nose.

The other man took this as his cue to stop Riley from causing any more harm and, with one swift motion, knocked her backwards onto the bed again. He tied her and Farkle down with restraints built into the bed that Riley hadn’t noticed until now. The man never said a word but worked swiftly and with such care, as to not hurt the kids. The restraints were not painful but uncomfortable, and Riley was unable to move much. The two men left the basement without another word, and Riley was left alone with her thoughts and unconscious best friend.

“...Wow,” was all Farkle could make out after Riley had finished recounting her story. His expression was a mixture of shock, fear, and pride.

“I know,” she replied, “and since then all I’ve done is try to come up with ways to get out of here. I have an idea, but I want to hear your story first.” Farkle told her everything that happened from the moment she passed out up until the moment he stupidly took pills from an unknown stranger. By the time he had finished his story, Riley could only stare at him with her mouth hanging open. “You better be glad I’m restrained right now because if it weren’t for these keeping me on this bed, I would have _strangled you for taking pills from a stranger!_ ” At this point, she was screaming so loud that the pair simultaneously turned their heads towards the door, but no one came to quiet them down. Riley and Farkle sat in silence contemplating their situation for a solid ten minutes

“What happens if we have to… I don’t know… use the bathroom?” Farkle wondered aloud, not sure if Riley even knew the answer. She appeared to not have heard him because her eyes had glazed over and she was lost in thought. “Riley? Earth to Riley? You got away from me for a second there, is everything alright?” he asked, his face scrunched up in concern.

And then, it was as if a light bulb had gone on in her head. She jolted herself back to reality and began thrashing around in her bed. Farkle was more worried than he was puzzled but before he could ask anymore questions, Riley had freed her arms. Farkle’s eyes widened and started stuttering, “how d- wait- how did you- when-” but Riley cut him off before he could formulate an intelligible sentence.

She spoke almost excitedly as she removed the restraints on her feet, “I’ve been thinking about this all day. None of it made sense. Why was everyone being so careful with us? They didn’t intentionally hurt us apart from knocking us out. They laid you down so carefully on this bed and look! Look how loose the restraints were! It all makes sense!” Clearly, it didn’t make sense to Farkle because his face showed that he wasn’t keeping up. Riley frustratedly sighed and walked over to Farkle’s bed after freeing herself to help let his friend out. “Don’t you see?” she asked, “they don’t want anything bad to happen to us! We’re here for a reason! And we’re about to find out what it is, that is, after we clean up some of your wounds.” She removed the taut elastic bands from around Farkle carefully so to not put him in any more pain. Once he was released, she helped him sit up and pushed the bed against the wall so he could rest his head on it. She rummaged through a box in the far corner of the room and retrieved a water bottle. She then removed the sheet off of Farkle’s bed and wet part of the sheet and approached her friend cautiously.

“Hold still,” she told him, hoping she could clean off as much blood as possible.  He only flinched every so often, but she was able to remove all of the dried blood from his face and arms that he acquired from flying off of the bike and onto the pavement. She tried fixing his hair and he actually looked presentable after her short attempt at grooming him, apart from the fact that his black graphic tee and black jeans both had holes in them. She, on the other hand, was still in pajamas and didn’t even have shoes on. Granted, she was in a red tank top and gray leggings, but those were still her pajamas.

“Here,” he told her as he reached out to try and flatten her hair to no avail. At this point, both of them looked vaguely presentable and felt ready to find a way out. “If I remember correctly,” Farkle began, “someone said that they had a plan?” Riley had momentarily forgotten about it. She tended to do that when she was with Farkle; everything else in her life would fade into the background and he was her only focus. She tried to ignore that fact and regain her thoughts.

“Right! Yeah, sorry.” She covered her face with her hands as she tried to recall the idea she had already come up with. “Well, since we’re down here unharmed, I think we should just try to find our way upstairs and be prepared for anything we see behind that door,” she told him as she pointed at the door she hadn’t come in through. She took a bobby pin out of her hair and held it up to Farkle. “If there’s one thing I learned from Maya, it was to always be prepared for the worst. Shall we?” she asked, looking at his expression.

Farkle looked nervous, but he began climbing the stairs with Riley trailing behind by a step. Her stomach was in knots and she was drenched in sweat. Once they had reached the top landing, she shakily asked, “ready?” He took her hand and squeezed it once as he looked into her eyes and replied, “whenever you are.”  She could see the fear she reflected in his eyes, knew that he had faith in them. So, why shouldn’t she? Ignoring the blush she felt in her cheeks and the butterflies in her stomach she had from holding Farkle’s equally clammy hand, she crouched by the door handle and slowly picked the lock with her bobby pin. She felt a click and stood up next to Farkle. She took his hand again and whispered, “you do it.”

They shared a moment of silence where Riley noticed a noise coming from behind the door. Was it music? Clearly, Farkle didn’t hear it because he showed no reaction to the faint sound of “Now and Later” by Sage the Gemini playing somewhere beyond the basement door. He took a deep breath as he turned the knob.

He quickly swung the door open and a disco ball crashed to the floor in front of them.


End file.
